Agenda item

Approval is sought for Oldham Council Music Service to enter into a new agreement with other GM LAs to receive funding.

Purpose of the report:

The purpose of the report is to seek approval from Cabinet, for Oldham Council Music Service to enter into a new agreement with other Greater Manchester (GM) Local Authorities (LA’s) to receive funding to continue to operate as the Local Area Delivery Partner for the GM Music Hub.

Reason for the Recommendations:

The GM Music Hub (GMMH) partnership began in 2012 following the publication of the first National Plan for Music education (NPME) (DfE, 2011). There were existing good relationships between the music services serving the LAs in GM (AGMA template at the time). Except for City of Manchester, the other nine Directors of Education (taking advice from Heads of Music Service) voted to move forward with the partnership agreement and for Bolton Music Service to be the Hub Lead Organisation (HLO) for the alliance. The partnership was in no way enforced. It was the will of the nine LA’s and their Music Services to join forces in this way.

The partnership agreement between the nine LAs as established in 2012 is a legal document. Each LA legal dept. adds its ‘seal’ to the document. There have been numerous interim extensions to the agreement since it was proposed in 2011.

The GMMH is the largest Music Hub in the country. It has been a flagship for Arts Council England (ACE)/DfE and has proven the benefits of cross LA working.  This situation was further enhanced when Bolton Music Service was approached by Blackburn with Darwen Council in 2015 and asked to take over the management of their local music service.  Since that time, BwD Music Service has become an additional partner within GMMH and contributes financially in the same way as the other nine organisations. The existence of the GMMH has played a part in the development to establish far more multi-LA hubs across England, a process which commenced in 2023 and which led to organisations bidding to become the new HLOs for geographic locations assigned by ACE, operation of which will commence from Sept 2024.

The relationships between the LAs and the wider partnership (Halle, BBC, RNCM, University of Salford and many more) has grown and remains extremely collegiate. There are very many economies of scale, enhanced opportunities for children and teachers because of the Hub. The principle benefits experienced during the initial phase of the NPME have include, much closer working between the Music Services in each of the partner LAs, enhanced educational pathways for students, increased funding, both regionally and locally, economies of scale, increased efficiency in respect of the grant admin process, peer support. These benefits continue to evolve and we are continually adding value through the addition of new industry partners.

It was the unanimous recommendation of the nine Heads of Music Services that Bolton should continue to be the HLO for GM and that they would lead the application in the 2023 funding relating to the period from Sept 2024.

A significant advantage of the GMMH structure is that the HLO (Bolton) is empowered to deal with the admin heavy business of ACE liaison and reporting. This allows the other partners to focus on local provision. Bolton take a 3% ‘top slice’ to fund the work they carry out on behalf of all partners. This is remarkable value for money, because to manage the ACE burden locally would require the establishment of further management posts in each of the boroughs.

The value of the grant funding to Oldham in 2023-24 is £415,210 (after 3% top-slice). A similar figure is expected going forwards.

Options/Alternatives considered:

Option 1:  To sign the Agreement as presented and to continue as the appointed local Delivery Partner for the GM Music Hub in the borough of Oldham.  This option has the advantage of ensuring that the delivery of musical opportunities for young people and other groups in Oldham continues its unbroken tradition and will continue to develop and thrive.

Option 2:  To reject the Agreement and not to remain as the Delivery Partner for the GM Music Hub in Oldham.  This would pose an existential threat to the Oldham Council Music Service as the reduction of c. £415k of funding annually would result in mass redundancies, a massive contraction of the offer and the potential failure of extra-curricular delivery.  Additionally, the new GM/BwD Music Hub would be compelled to appoint an alternative Local Delivery Partner for the borough and this would, most likely, lead to the establishment of an additional and well-funded, if inexperienced, local competitor, thereby placing additional pressure upon the Council Music Service.

Option 1 is the preferred option.

Decision:

that the Cabinet approves the proposal, detailed in the report and enters into the agreement with other Greater Manchester (GM) Local Authorities (LA’s) to receive funding to continue to operate as the Local Area Delivery Partner for the GM Music Hub.

The Cabinet considered a report of the Director of Education, Skills and Early Years that was seeking approval from the Cabinet, for Oldham Council Music Service to enter into a new agreement with other Greater Manchester (GM) Local Authorities (LA’s) to receive funding to continue to operate as the Local Area Delivery Partner for the GM Music Hub.

The Recommendations were presented as the GM Music Hub (GMMH) partnership began in 2012 following the publication of the first National Plan for Music education (NPME) (DfE, 2011). There were existing good relationships between the music services serving the LAs in GM (AGMA template at the time). Except for City of Manchester, the other nine Directors of Education (taking advice from Heads of Music Service) voted to move forward with the partnership agreement and for Bolton Music Service to be the Hub Lead Organisation (HLO) for the alliance. The partnership was in no way enforced. It was the will of the nine LA’s and their Music Services to join forces in this way.

The partnership agreement between the nine LAs as established in 2012 is a legal document. Each LA legal dept. adds its ‘seal’ to the document. There have been numerous interim extensions to the agreement since it was proposed in 2011.

The GMMH is the largest Music Hub in the country. It has been a flagship for Arts Council England (ACE)/DfE and has proven the benefits of cross LA working.  This situation was further enhanced when Bolton Music Service was approached by Blackburn with Darwen Council in 2015 and asked to take over the management of their local music service.  Since that time, BwD Music Service has become an additional partner within GMMH and contributes financially in the same way as the other nine organisations. The existence of the GMMH has played a part in the development to establish far more multi-LA hubs across England, a process which commenced in 2023 and which led to organisations bidding to become the new HLOs for geographic locations assigned by ACE, operation of which will commence from Sept 2024.

The relationships between the LAs and the wider partnership (Halle, BBC, RNCM, University of Salford and many more) has grown and remains extremely collegiate. There are very many economies of scale, enhanced opportunities for children and teachers because of the Hub. The principle benefits experienced during the initial phase of the NPME have include, much closer working between the Music Services in each of the partner LAs, enhanced educational pathways for students, increased funding, both regionally and locally, economies of scale, increased efficiency in respect of the grant admin process, peer support. These benefits continue to evolve and we are continually adding value through the addition of new industry partners.

It was the unanimous recommendation of the nine Heads of Music Services that Bolton should continue to be the HLO for GM and that they would lead the application in the 2023 funding relating to the period from Sept 2024.

A significant advantage of the GMMH structure is that the HLO (Bolton) is empowered to deal with the admin heavy business of ACE liaison and reporting. This allows the other partners to focus on local provision. Bolton take a 3% ‘top slice’ to fund the work they carry out on behalf of all partners. This is remarkable value for money, because to manage the ACE burden locally would require the establishment of further management posts in each of the boroughs.

The value of the grant funding to Oldham in 2023-24 is £415,210 (after 3% top-slice). A similar figure is expected going forwards.

Options/Alternatives considered:

Option 1:  To sign the Agreement as presented and to continue as the appointed local Delivery Partner for the GM Music Hub in the borough of Oldham.  This option has the advantage of ensuring that the delivery of musical opportunities for young people and other groups in Oldham continues its unbroken tradition and will continue to develop and thrive.

Option 2:  To reject the Agreement and not to remain as the Delivery Partner for the GM Music Hub in Oldham.  This would pose an existential threat to the Oldham Council Music Service as the reduction of c. £415k of funding annually would result in mass redundancies, a massive contraction of the offer and the potential failure of extra-curricular delivery.  Additionally, the new GM/BwD Music Hub would be compelled to appoint an alternative Local Delivery Partner for the borough and this would, most likely, lead to the establishment of an additional and well-funded, if inexperienced, local competitor, thereby placing additional pressure upon the Council Music Service.

Option 1 is the preferred option.

Resolved:

That the Cabinet approves the proposal, detailed in the report and enters into the agreement with other Greater Manchester (GM) Local Authorities (LA’s) to receive funding to continue to operate as the Local Area Delivery Partner for the GM Music Hub.